Last summer I worked at a half marathon and couldn't help noticing that the participants were among the most unhealthy looking people I'd ever seen. To a man/woman they looked aged beyond their years, weak, sagging and generally haggard and worn down. After stumbling across this I have some explanations as to why. Taken from ArthurDeVany's evolutionary fitness blog. Top Ten Reasons Not to Run Marathons October 13th, 2008 I was speaking with some of the participants in the St. George Marathon which was held here last week to start the Senior Games. Most of them had chronic or recent injuries from this latest event. There was a sense of pride among them as though they had done something to prove something about themselves. Perhaps, but there are other goals one could have that are more heathful and fulfilling. Not one of them looked really fit or healthy. Most said they had formerly been sedentary and wanted to get up and show they still had it. A few had been doing it for many years; they really looked bad, wrinkled and skinny with no muscle and poor posture. Only a few natural runners looked OK. I told them of the risks versus benefits of marathoning and all were astonished and in total denial. I sent them to this site and told them to look for a reprise of this old post. So, here it is. Let the complaints begin as With my apologies to David Letterman, here are the top ten reasons not to run marathons. 10. Marathon running damages the liver and gall bladder and alters biochemical markers adversely. HDL is lowered, LDL is increased, Red blood cell counts and white blood cell counts fall. The liver is damaged and gall bladder function is decreased. Testosterone decreases. From Wu, Worl J Gastroenterol. 2004 Sep 15: 10 (18): 2711-4, “RESULTS: Total bilirubin (BIL-T), direct bilirubin (BIL-D), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) increased statistically significantly (P<0.05) the race. Significant declines (P<0.05) in red blood cell (RBC), hemoglobin (Hb) and hematocrit (Hct) were detected two days and nine days d after the race. 2 d after the race, total protein (TP), concentration of albumin and globulin decreased significantly. While BIL, BIL-D and ALP recovered to their original levels. High-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) remained unchanged immediately after the race, but it was significantly decreased on the second and ninth days after the race. CONCLUSION: Ultra-marathon running is associated with a wide range of significant changes in hematological parameters, several of which are injury related. To provide appropriate health care and intervention, the man who receives athletes on high frequent training program high intensity training programs must monitor their liver and gallbladder function.” 9. Marathon running causes acute and severe muscle damage. Repetitive injury causes infiltration of collagen (connective tissue) into muscle fibers. From Warhol et al Am J Pathol. 1985 Feb: 118 (2): 331-9, “Muscle from runners showed post-race ultrastructural changes of focal fiber injury and repair: intra- and extracellular edema with endothelial injury; myofibrillar lysis, dilation and disruption of the T-tubule system, and focal mitochondrial degeneration without inflammatory infiltrate (1-3 days). The mitochondrial and myofibrillar damage showed progressive repair by 3-4 weeks. Late biopsies showed central nuclei and satellite cells characteristic of the regenerative response (8-12 weeks). Muscle from veteran runners showed intercellular collagen deposition suggestive of a fibrotic response to repetitive injury. Control tissue from nonrunners showed none of these findings.” 8. Marathon running induces kidney disfunction (renal abnormalities). From Neyiackas and Bauer, South Med J. 1981 Dec; 74 (12): 1457-60, “All postrace urinalyses were grossly abnormal…We conclude that renal function abnormalities occur in marathon runners and that the severity of the abnormality is temperature-dependent.” 7. Marathon running causes acute microthrombosis in the vascular system. From Fagerhol et al Scan J Clin Invest. 2005; 65 (3): 211-20, “During the marathon, half-marathon, the 30-km run, the ranger-training course and the VO2max exercise, calprotectin levels increased 96.3-fold, 13.3-fold, 20.1-fold, 7.5-fold and 3.4-fold, respectively. These changes may reflect damage to the tissues or vascular endothelium, causing microthrombi with subsequent activation of neutrophils.” 6. Marathon running elevates markers of cancer. S100beta is one of these markers. Tumor necrosis factor, TNF-alpha, is another. From Deichmann et al in Melanoma Res. 2001 June; 11 (3): 291-6. “In metastatic melanoma S100beta as well as melanoma inhibitory activity (MIA) are elevated in the serum in the majority of patients. Elevation has been found to correlate with shorter survival, and changes in these parameters in the serum during therapy were recently reported to predict therapeutic outcome in advanced disease.” From Santos et al Life Sci. 2004 September: 75 (16): 1917:24, “After the test (a 30km run), athletes from the control group presented an increase in plasma CK (4.4-fold), LDH (43%), PGE2 6.6-fold) and TNF-alpha (2.34-fold) concentrations, indicating a high level of cell injury and inflammation.” 5. Marathon running damages your brain. The damage resembles acute brain trauma. Marathon runners have elevated S100beta, a marker of brain damage and blood brain barrier disfunction. There is S100beta again, a marker of cancer and of brain damage. From Marchi, et al Restor Neurol Neurosci, 2003; 21 (3-4): 109-21, “S100beta in serum is an early marker of BBB openings that may precede neuronal damage and may influence therapeutic strategies. Secondary, massive elevations in S100beta are indicators of prior brain damage and bear clinical significance as predictors of poor outcome or diagnostic means to differentiate extensive damage from minor, transient impairment.” Other studies indicate confusion in post-event marathon runners. 4. Marathons damage your heart. From Whyte, et al Med Sci Sports Ecerc, 2001 May, 33 (5) 850-1, “Echocardiographic studies report cardiac dysfunction following ultra-endurance exercise in trained individuals. Ironman and half-Ironman competition resulted in reversible abnormalities in resting left ventricular diastolic and systolic function. Results suggest that myocardial damage may be, in part, responsible for cardiac dysfunction, although the mechanisms responsible for this cardiac damage remain to be fully elucidated.” 3. Endurance athletes have more spine degeneration. From Schmitt et al Int J Sports Med. 2005 Jul; 26 (6): 457-63, “The aim of this study was to assess bone mineral density (BMD) and degenerative changes in the lumbar spine in male former elite athletes participating in different track and field disciplines and to determine the influence of body composition and degenerative changes on BMD. One hundred and fifty-nine former male elite athletes (40 throwers, 97 jumpers, 22 endurance athletes) were studied. …Throwers had a higher body mass index than jumpers and endurance athletes. Throwers and jumpers had higher BMD (T-LWS) than endurance athletes. Bivariate analysis revealed a negative correlation of BMD (T-score) with age and a positive correlation with BMD and Kellgren score (p < 0.05). Even after multiple adjustment for confounders lumbar spine BMD is significantly higher in throwers, pole vaulters, and long- and triple jumpers than in marathon athletes.” The number two reason not to run marathons, 2. At least four particiants of the Boston Marathon have died of brain cancer in the past 10 years. Purely anecdotal, but consistent with the elevated S100beta counts and TKN-alpha measures. Perhaps also connected to the microthrombi of the endothelium found in marathoners. And now ladies and gentlemen the number one reason not to run marathons, 1. The first marathon runner, Phidippides, collapsed and died at the finish of his race. [ Jaworski, Curr Sports Med Rep. 1005 June; 4 (3), 137-43.] Now there is a recommendation for a healthy activity. The original participant died in the event. But, this is not quite so unusual; many of the running and nutritional gurus of the past decade or two died rather young. Pritikin, Sheehy, Fixx, and Atkins, among many other originators of “healthy” practices died at comparatively young ages. Jack LaLanne, the only well-known guru to advocate body building, will outlive us all.
Hut.. I am getting ready to run one:: thing is.. it's one thing to live a healthy and active lifestyle and then do "A" Marathon it's another do really be a "marathoner" and do this all the time I for one am not built like the guys running these things.. i talked to guys at a local running shop that put on races etc.. they said the avg weight of their running group is 145!! they are all skinny, sickly looking guys i'm just under 200 these days and lean and mean but.. you know.. I'd like to do it Once! why not? I think it's a good thing
Well yeah, as a one off challenge, why not? Like climbing a mountain or swimming the channel. There is value to doing physical things beyond just the physical benefits. :bears:It's just that if you take your health advice from the TV and magazines (which most people do, not saying you do obviously) completing a marathon is basically held up as the ultimate demonstration of health and fitness. Which in turn makes distance running the route 95% of people take when they decide to start looking after themselves, which is a shame. It's exactly the same as the low fat/high carb BS that is foisted on people, IMO. Yeah like eating loads of processed grains, wheat & sugar products is what our body evolved for but we better cut off the fat in meat cause it's gonna kill us. Sad that the few people who do muster the effort to look after themselves are pointed in such horrible, horrible directions. Kinda makes me wonder how wildly ignorant the medical establishment is in other areas....:notallthere:
moderation is key my friend people like to go ALL out in single ideas.. '"NO CARBS" etc.. I really enjoy running and I think Running is really good for you but to do it to an extreme is not
yeah.....running a mile or two now & then has gotta be great. 5 miles every day or 26 miles at once, maybe not so much. I think if there's one single idea to go ALL out in it's basically just doing the things we evolved for as much as possible. Being outside as much as possible, getting up when it's light and going to sleep when it's dark, eating meat/fish, veg & fruit, sprinting occasionally, lifting something heavy occasionally, running a mile occasionally, walking allot, resting a good amount, fucking allot & being around people allot. Such is the good life! :mj:
I can't believe you've been training as long as you have and as hard as you have and are still over 200lbs, LOK.:: Come on. Running at that weight will break your knees and shins. You should be like 160 max if you're gonna be doing marathons.
i'm NOT over 200 Hanzy:doh: I'm in the 190's! headed for the 180's that's prolly as low as i'll go.. i'm thick and got thick ass muscular legs.. i dont wanna be a skinny ass bitch my knees aint gettin jacked I'm like a stallion Hanzy.. I could run all day baby!